When conduits, whether they are constituted as pipes, hoses, electrical wires, or the like, pass through a wall it is normally necessary to seal tightly and hermetically around them. In particular in firecode construction it is necessary for the joint around the conduits to be of the same rating as the wall. Accordingly it is known to use wall feedthrough fittings comprising basically a sleeve that is fitted through the wall and through which the conduits pass longitudinally and a group of blocks that fit snugly between the conduits and the sleeve.
German Pat. No. 3,322,809 (filed June 24, 1983 and issued June 27, 1895 to W. Hauff) shows such a wall feedthrough fitting having an inner ring permanently mounted in a passage in the wall and formed with an inwardly tapering inner portion and an internally threaded outer portion. The seal is formed by a plurality of separate pie-shaped blocks that meet at interfaces defining passages for the conduits longitudinally traversing the wall.
In order to assemble such a fitting around conduits already passing through the wall, the individual blocks are fitted together between the conduits and the inner wall-mounted ring. Then an outer ring that engages over the outer faces of the blocks at the outer peripheries thereof is threaded into the outer portion of the inner ring This outer ring is then screwed longitudinally into the inner ring to force the wall blocks inward, compressing them laterally against the inner surface of the inner ring and the outer surfaces of the conduits.
Unfortunately since the outer ring only engages over the outer edges of the seal blocks, the seal formed thereby tends to bulge longitudinally outward, opening gaps on the outer face. of the seal at the interfaces between adjacent seal blocks. Another problem with this system is that the entire seal must be completely disassembled prior to use so that not only is there a good likelihood of losing parts, but the subsequent reassembly becomes a laborious and time-consuming task.